Maximum Ride: Up and Away
by I am enigma
Summary: Set at the beginning of book 2: Max and the Flock are flying to DC, but make an unexpected stop. Some OC, the flock and what not to do to get on Max's bad side. Max does, however, have to help the twins that she accidentally betrays and hates it!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Peeps! So I'm new and wondering what y'all think of my story? Set RIGHT at the beginning of School's Out - Forever where they're one their way to DC... Anyway, don't own Maximum Ride or any of JP's character's. Peace. Love. Maximum Thrills.** 1 Sweeping, swooping, soaring, air-current thrill rides – there's nothing better. For miles around, we were the only things in the infinite, wide-open, clear blue sky. You want adrenaline rush? Try tucking your wings in, dive-bombing for about a mile straight down, then _woosh!_ Wings out, grab an air current like a pit bull, and hang on for the ride of your life. God, _nothing_ is better, more fun, more exhilarating. Sure, we were mutant freaks, we were on the lam, but man flying – well, there's a reason people always dream about it."Oh my gosh!" The Gasman said excitedly. He pointed. "A UFO!"I silently counted to ten. There was nothing where the Gasman had pointed. As usual. "That was funny the first fifty times, Gazzy," I said. "It's getting old." "Actually, it was never funny," Nudge chimed in, with about as much enthusiasm as me. Gazzy cackled from where he flew with swift strokes a couple feet away. Rising higher, I got a tighter grip on Total, the sleeping dog in my arms. Did we need a dog? No. Did I want a dog? Also no. Could we afford to feed a dog? Wait for it – no."Guys! Wait," Iggy shushed us all, and I smirked at the seriousness on his face. "Do you _hear_ that?"He blinked, then began flying more slowly, drawing back as if he felt someone – something – coming. Feeling cold all over, I paused. "Erasers?" my voice was calm despite the pound of blood in my ears, and to my relief, Iggy shook his head. "More like ... hawk's." "Hawks?" I scoffed, doing a 360 sweep of the area. "There's nothing around. You sure you're not just hearing us? I mean, considering we're _six pairs of wings_?"Iggy shook his head and then cocked it to the side. Listening."What's that?" Gazzy pointed downwards, and again I tried not to lash out with a hand clamping his mouth shut. "I'm serious this time," he said. My better sense told me not to look. But I did anyway. Who wrote gullible on the ceiling, right?"It's pretty." Angel remarked. To my utter surprise, there was indeed something below us, swooping low to the ground. Hovering."We found your hawk, Iggy." I muttered. "And?" he asked "And it looks like –" "One of us!" Nudge exclaimed excitedly. I threw a cautious look that shushed her almost immediately. "Impossible." Iggy whispered, looking like he'd walked into a plate glass door. "What does it look like?" "It's pretty," Angel said again, "its wings look smaller than ours, and it's flying close to the ground – very slowly." "Hey, guys?" I shouted, hovering higher and turning so I faced all of them, "it could be ... a bird? Think of that, wise-guys?" "But birds don't have human faces." Nudge defended. "We're to high up to know that for sure," I stated. "So let's check it out." Gazzy began a descend."What about DC?" Without a reply, the rest of the flock followed Gazzy. "Fang?" He threw me a _'there's one of it and six of us'_ look before heading towards land."No, absolutely not. In case you forgot, there are Erasers after us. This could very well be a trap! And I refuse to lead us into the mouth." Folding my arms across my chest, I waited for the flock to turn around. "We were on our way to search for our – Nudge's – parents, remember?" _**Sometimes sacrifices are worth the risk.**_ I sighed._Thanks, Voice, _I replied_, because you're the person in charge. _ But what could this _thing_ do to us that we couldn't do back?"So choose," I said, "parents or investigating that _thing_." "We can go to DC tomorrow, Max. If it's like us, then maybe it's willing to let us stay a night." Gazzy said confidently, pointing to the house beside the it, and the other four flock members nodded in agreement. He looked tired – we all were tired. We'd had another long, ugly day in a series of long, ugly days. "If it's a trap?" I asked."If it's a trap, we blow the ice-cream stand." Iggy confirmed, smirking slightly while fist-bumping Gazzy. I sighed again. "Fine. But one word and we're gone."In sync, five feathery children nodded and began their descend. We dropped three miles and flew forward, approaching the bird-thing in no time at all. It occurred to me that this _it_ was, in fact, a _she_. And she wasn't alone. I mean, God forbid we attempt something without proceeding to arrive in the middle of a battlefield."Iggy, two o'clock!" I shouted, just as the second girl threw her heel into Iggy's chest, knocking the air from his lungs. He spun through the air with an 'oof' and just managed to regain composure to beat his wings strongly. The two girls – one with wings and one without – took no time at all to lunge at the rest of us. "The flying one! She's more of a threat!" I yelled. But to my surprise, the girl with wings flew to the ground, landing on both feet. She sprinted towards Angel and Nudge while the other one jumped towards me. Big mistake on her part._**Don't underestimate your opponents, Max,**_ said my unhelpful voice just as Wingless threw herself to the air, flipping round and landing an extremely lucky kick to the side of my head. I know what you're thinking; _that's impossible!_First of all, I was hovering a good five feet above ground level. Second, she didn't even have wings and third: it hurt like a bitch, but just as I blinked back in surprise, she sprung again, solidly knocking the air from my lungs. There was a sickening crack as her foot connected with my ribs and I buckled in pain, setting Total on the ground where he growled and attempted to gnaw the toes off Wingless. But she ignored him like a pathetic leaf as she landed on both feet nimbly, ready for round four. She had no wings – not even invisible – and wasn't chiseled or over-grown like an Eraser. Scarier yet – I noticed with dread that the winged girl was identical to her. Clones."Holy crap." I muttered, wiping blood from the corner of my mouth. Fang was on Wingless, grabbing her by the throat. She put up a fight, but lost from lack of muscle. Fang threw her like a discarded gum wrapper, and she only barely managed to break her own fall by landing with one arm out-stretched, hissed and jumped forward, looking as if about to claw Fang's eyes out. But at the last moment, she changed courses and landed up kneeing him in the chin. His eyes flashed with anger while he took a different stance. In a second I lunged forward again, ignoring the pain of broken ribs. Wingless didn't see me coming, and I landed a strong punch at her solar plexus. She grappled back in surprise, just as Fang added a hit to her head, drawing a long gash accompanied by a ribbon of blood. Without the slightest cry of warning like a normal person would, she flipped again, landing a kick to the centre of my head that sprinkled stars across my vision. I cried out, falling to my knees, and noticed something – she kept glancing back to the other girl. "Get Wings," I called. Fang nodded and launched towards her, and I watched as Wingless blinked in surprise, leaving me unattended to rescue her clone. I soared through the air until I had Wings in a neck hold, choking her until I was sure Wingless would listen. "We mean no harm," I said slowly."Clearly," she replied bitterly. I let go of Wings and stepped back, tapping Iggy's hand so he did the same. We stood in a loose stance. "I'm Ella," I said, choosing a name that had slipped off my tongue. "This is Jaxon and Joe," I pointed to Iggy and Fang. "And I'm happy for all of you," Wingless said sarcastically, defensively stepping in front of the other girl. She was obviously created for one specific purpose – to protect Wings."Um... thanks." That wasn't a response I was hoping for. "So why does your clone have wings, but you don't?" Nudge asked what we all wanted to know. I shot her daggers, but turned back to the girls to see their response. "I'm not her clone, you nimrods." "Twins?" Iggy asked in alarm. "Wow," the girl shivered playfully. "You are amazing. Bye." She turned towards the house that had conveniently been there all along. No need to be more frank, thank you very much. We watched as they stepped up the porch, and as the door opened, Wings pulled something from she turned back towards us and threw it."Ella!" Angel warned in alarm, but it was too late. The object had been a blade, and aimed at just the right angle to impale the delicate tissue of one of my wings. I cripple in pain."Come in," Wingless said with a smile. "You might be here a while."

** hey peeps! So that was the first chapter. Please RnR! **


	2. Chapter 2

**2 **

So it was clear that Wingless was the head of their little operation.

"Still want to stay the night?" I asked Gazzy, clenching my teeth through the pain. He flushed, then made a slight nod. "I'm curious." He shrugged and I bit back irritation. Fang rushed to my side, helping me to the house. Wingless led us, and didn't bother locking the door – or even closing inside was so ... clean. It smelt like fresh laundry and not a single particle of dust lay atop any piece of furniture. "Do you live here alone?" Iggy asked, feeling his way around. "Yup." Wingless said, assisting Fang in laying me on the couch. I whimpered."Can't say I'm sorry," she said. "Clearly," I spat at her. I spent a long moment staring her down. That's when I noticed the most peculiar thing.

The Flock and I had always been tall and skinny – due to our avian combination with human DNA. But Wings looked exactly like her sister. Even the same height. "You look like a normal thirteen-year-old." I stated. Wingless raised an eyebrow. "Well you look like you can fly."

"What, no super tall frame? Were you only half-altered?"

The girl – Wings – shrugged. "Maybe." said Wingless.I swallowed a clump of bile rising in my throat. Her tone of voice was starting to creep me out a little bit. "Um... so what are you doing here?"

"Living. And you?" Wingless sat opposite me and glared intensely at my face. Her eyes were cat-like – slightly almond shape and the deepest indigo I've ever seen. We'll, _their_ eyes. She – they – had hair the color of chocolate and skin a pasty white – with only a slight tan. Okay, creepy."We were flying over here. Saw um ... her." I pointed to Wings. "Right," Wingless confirmed, "and you decided to say hello."

"Well, Greggy did," said Angel, nodding at Gazzy. She found her way to the kitchen and opened a counter, helping herself to a bag of chips as if she'd always lived here. "Holy crap, the kid's the leader?" Wingless genuinely looked shocked. "Of course not!" I yelped, "I am!"

"Wow! Someone is insecure, El-la." She rolled the name off her tongue. "And Jaxon." She turned to Iggy. "What do they call you for short? Jax? Ja-on?""

Actually, I call him Sonny," Nudge giggled, taking a chocolate chip cookie that Angel was passing around."Son-ny." Wingless echoed. "And you are?"

"Krystal. You?"

"I'm cold, to be honest. You'd think a place in the middle of nowhere – which is, in fact, built on a graveyard – would at least have some form of solar-heating. But nothing. It's just the shit-hole that it looks like."

"Graveyard?" Gazzy croaked, moving closer to me and grabbing onto my arm. I winced at the slight movement of my wing. "Yep. It's where we buried our parents." She said it with such dismissal that I almost believed her and her nonchalant way – until Wings threw a pillow across the room towards her sister. "Shut up. Stop being such a bitch."

Then she turned to us, "I'm really sorry about your wing. But honestly, would you want to take the chances?"I blinked, then slowly shook my head. "But my aim would be closer to the heart."

Wings shook her head, slowly rustling her charcoal-coloured wings until they hit the light and turned white. "Here," Wings handed Fang a Medical Aid kit, and he began to attend to the younger kids' wounds. Then Wingless came towards me and pulled the knife from my wing. I screeched in pain. Red blotches appeared in front of my vision, and Wingless's expression never changed. It was as if she couldn't even hear me. "What is wrong with you?" I cried.

Shrugging, Wingless popped a piece of gum in her mouth. She splashed some liquid on my wound – odorless and colorless – that burned satisfyingly, and then backed away.

"Aren't you gonna dress that?" Fang asked, wrapping a band-aid around a cut on Angel's finger. "Oh, I almost forgot," Wingless muttered, then turned to me. "Would you like a shirt, robe or jeans for your wound?"

Fang blinked at her, and I lashed forward, almost landing a solid punch to her throat. But she ducked, smirking. I looked around, and noticed that all the windows and doors were open; either they weren't really good at holding captives, or knew exactly how to get us to trust them. "So," Gazzy began, "are you guys vegetarians?" he pulled a grossed-out face and opened the refrigerator door, drawing out apples. Fang tossed one at me and I ate it, eyeing the two girls carefully. "Yes, but there is some dried-out meat out back." Said Wings. "Ew, but thanks." Iggy smiled slightly, sitting in an armchair.

I couldn't understand how they'd adapted so well to this place. Maybe delusional from all the flying. Either way, they'd snap out of it eventually. I hoped.

"So how did you guys wind up in this place?" asked Fang. Wow, a whole sentence. "Escape from the school?"

"The School?" Wings blinked in confusion, her pallid face flushing even more. "You've never heard of it? Whitecoats? Erasers?" Gazzy sat on the floor at their feet. "We've heard of Erasers." Said Wingless, "not those other things." She shrugged. "What's for dinner? Can anyone here cook? 'Cause I can't."

"I can." Iggy stood up and felt his way to the kitchen. "The blind boy cooks?" Wingless shrugged again, "stranger things have happened, I guess."

"How do you know some stuff and not other stuff? Did you live here all your life? How come you don't have wings like her?" Gazzy asked in a single breath. "To answer your questions in order," Wings began, eyeing her sister's snarl, "Our parents left us tips, yes and because Scar got out lucky."

"Scar?" I laughed. "How appropriate."

"What kinda tips?" Nudge asked. "These." Wings gestured to a stack of home-videos. "Oh! Let me guess, they left memories of your first and second birthday, and potty training?"

Wingless – Scar – smirked. "Ah-ha. Also first pony ride."She slouched down on the sofa. "Actually, they videoed themselves telling us how we survived from evil scientists and were brought here and –" Wings was cut off by her sister's hand clamping around her mouth. "We don't know you. We aren't telling you jack." I smirked. Are these girls for real? The super-stealthy and the one whose main plan is improvisation. Fang made his way to the home-videos. He looked at the labels. "Scarlet and Ash. That's you guys, right?""Maybe." Wingless snatched the video from his hand and threw it to the ground. "Now, if you don't mind, please stop touching everything." He backed up, pressing his back to the wall with the closest to a smile that he would straightened up, facing Fang. "You don't look much like a Joe," she stated, "more like a Claw or Talon."

I covered my mouth to keep from laughing. Gazzy snickered while Angel smiled politely. "Call me Fang, if you want."

"No," she shook her head. "Talon. Not Fang. Whose name is _Fang_?" she pulled a frowned, the pointed at his own cheek "You have..." Scar felt her face, and drew back, noticing blood for the first time. She looked down at Fang's boot, then back at his face. "I wonder where that came from."

"I wonder." Fang shrugged. Wow, someone's really talkative lately.


End file.
